Flangeway and railway-rail guard structure



June 5, 1928.

' P. E. GERHARD FLANGEWAY AND RAILWAY RAIL GUARD STRUCTURE Filed Dec, 25, 1927 m 20 VENTOR l6 l8 /9 awggyiii s 20 [a kflw fig 5 /6 v 4 I ATTORNEY Patented June 5, 1928..

NITEI) STATES PAUL EUGENE summer), or LEBANON, PENNSYLVANIA, lasers-Non T0 LEBANON s'rnrr.

PATENT orricsl FOUNDRY, OF LEBANON, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

FLANGEWAY AND RAILWAY-RAIL GUARD STRUCTURE Application filed December 23, .1927. Serial No; 242,057;

This invention relates to fiangewayand railway rail guard structures and is in the nature of an improvement on the invention set forth in my Patent No. 1,645,279 of 00-. tober 11, 1927; and in my Patent No. 1,659,730, granted February 21, 1928, for tlangeway and ra1l guards for hlghway crossings of railroads.

The objects of this invention are. to interlock themeeting or abutting ends of aligned guard sections of the class mentioned where the meeting ends come opposite, that is, above, cross ties; and also when they do not come opposite or above cross ties, in such wise as to hold the interlocked section firmly in working position.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof and illustrating the best form of my invention now known to me;

Fig. l is a side elevation of two aligned endwise contacting guard sections. The View shows a T-shaped opening at the meeting ends of the sections and also a similar opening wholly enclosed by the web of a section.

Fig. 2 is a perspective vieW showing endwise abutting, aligned guard sections one at one side and the other at the other side of a railway track rail, two T-shaped openings being wholly enclosed by the guard webs and one of the openings being at the meeting 7 ends of the sections; the latter opening having positioned in it an interlocking device which is the head of a brace leading to a cross tie under the meeting ends of the sections. The sections at the right hand side of the track rail are portions of flangeway guard sections, and the sections at the left hand side of the track rail are track rail guard sections.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 2 but shows a brace head in an opening above the cross tie with the brace secured at its lower end to the cross tie. The view also shows the shankless head or locking device in an opening spaced apart from the cross tie.

Fig. 4 is'a perspective view of the shankless head of locking device shown in Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the head having an integral shank as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3.

In laying or installing both the flangeway guards and the track rail guards it frequently happens that the meeting or abutting ends of the sections do not come totrack rail.

gether over a cross tie but spacedly apart therefrom between ad1acentt1es. The present invention is intended for the production of these sections in such Wise that their meeting ends can be interlocked whether such meeting ends are over cross ties or are between cross ties. p U

In the drawings, 1 is a track rail shownin place on a cross tie 3. A indicates a sectionalized fiangeway guard adjacent and spaced apart fromthe inward side of the track rail, the sections being in endwise alignment and having their opposed ends in contact. 13 indicates a track rail guard adjacent but spaced apart from the outward-side of the The space 5 between the track rail andflangeway guard is for reception of paving material but this space 5 is not to be completely filled with paving material which is placed in the space so as to come only part way-up to the topsof the rail and fiangeway guard for entrance of a wheel flange as set forth in my-said patent application, which also shows the present space 5" between the track rail and the track rail guardfilled with paving material up to the tops of the track rail andtrack rail guard. The top of the rail and the tops of the guards at each side are approximately flush one with another in actual installations.

In accordance with the present invention, webs 10 of the guard sections are respectively provided at desired intervals apart ing device, its head comprising a neck 20 from each side of which a pair of cross arms 18 QXtGIlCLODG on one side and the other on the other side of the neck, in opposite directions. From each side of the neck. at its outward end, another pair of cross arms 18 severally project in opposite directions, there being a preferably, outwardly flared space between each cross arm 18 and a laterally opposed cross arm 18. The spaces between the laterally opposed cross arms severally receive a margin of the wall of a downward extension T when the parts are assembled; each of the cross arms '18 then bearing on a surface 1'0 of the web adjacent the downward extension T and each of the cross arms 18 thenbearing on a correspond ing surface of the Web opposedcto a surface indicated by The neck enters the downward extension 7T below the upper transverse portion of, the T-shaped opening. The shankof the bracing and locking device is indicated by =19, its base 19* being spiked t0 a cross tie.

WVrhenthe meeting ends of sections come between cross ties the shank 19 is unnecessary and the four-armed head of the shank with its neck-120 is used for interlocking-the meeting ends of :thesections. The cross armed head is dimensioned; or, at least, its outermost arms 1 a and neck 20 are dimensioned. to pass into and through the upper transverse portion ofeach T-shaped opening; and then the neck is forced down into an extension ,T withvth-e side margins of the downward extension forcedv in place each between two opposed cross arms 18 and :1-8. The inward tapers of the spaces between each two oflthe lateral 1y opposed cross arms 18 and d8 permit each pair of laterally opposed crossiarms-to come into tight gripping relations with .the two opposite Web surfaces at 10. v y

The meeting ends of the webs are thus tightly :interlocked by the two cross arms hearing on the 'outward, and by the two cross arms bearing .on the inward side of, a web, portions of each web being anchored in a space between two laterally opposed cross arms. The result is vto prevent lateral displacement of 'one web in relation to the other; to endwise connect the meeting ends of two sections, andpractically to prevent vertical displacement of one section in relation to the other.

Various shapes of the openings and various shapes of the shankless interlocking device, or head of the bracing shank, may be devised other than as shown, without departure from this invention, the function of which isto grip the 'section'webs on their opposite sides between vopposed bearing surfaces of the head or locking device, whether it =has, or does.not.ihave,.a shank for connec tion with some stationary element of the track structure.

hat I 1 claim is 1. In flangeway and track rail guard strrwtnrmthe combination of a guard web provided with an opening for reception of a web locking device; and a web lookingfdevice having a neck and at each end thereof, rigid, opposedly projecting, laterally spaced apart, web engaging members; the wall of saidopening and said device beingdimensioned for assemblage, and in assemblage, the neck passing through portion of the opening with surfaces of two of said spaced \apart members bearing on one side, and surfaces of two other spaced apart members bearing on the other side, of the web;

2. In flangeway and track rail guard structure, the combination of a guard web provided with an openingforxreception of a web locking device; :and a web locklng device having a neck'and'atieach end thereof, rigid, opposedly projecting, laterally spaced apart, :web engaging. members; the wall of said opening and said device being dimensioned for assemblage, and in assemblage, the neck passing :through a portion of the opening with surfaces of two of said spaced apart members bearing on one side, andsnrfacesof two-otherspaced apart members bearing on ,the other side, 1 of :the web; said locking device having a shank rand a track elementzto which the shank is fixed.

Signed vat Lehanon in the county of Lehanon and State of Pennsylvania this 26 day of NovemberA. D. 1927. v v

PAUL EUGENE GERHARD. 

